The True Alpha: The EJ Chronicles
Chapter 21: Reunion Leah's POV
I run toward the clock tower in the square, hearing the bell blaringly resound over and over again in my head. The pull of my imprint is growing stronger and more intense. Something tells me that he is waiting for me just beyond the square. I pick up my pace, running with increasing speed every other step. I need to find my EJ, to feel his warm body pressed close to mine. Up in the distance, I spy a dark figure in the shadows of the night. It remains stationary as I move closer and closer to its position. As I near the figure, I realize that it is my beloved, my EJ. I run toward my imprint with open arms, only to discover that he is not alone. In his arms, he holds another shadowy figure. I freeze where I am, struggling to control my breathing. As the moonlight shines down upon the two figures in front of me, I can now discern that the second figure is a woman with glistening brown hair dressed completely in black. She glares at me with piercing, red eyes, a menacing grin branded across her face. She seductively cups EJ's right cheek in her palm, pulling his lips toward hers. Their lips press passionately together as their arms entwine around the other's body. I feel my heart shatter into a million pieces as I watch the horrific scene before me. Memories of Sam and Emily flood my mind, and surmounting anger starts to course through my veins. "EJ! NO!" I scream into the stillness of the night as I lunge toward them, feeling myself burst into my wolf form in midair.
"EJ! NO!" I shoot up from my slumbers, only to find that I am now immersed in the comfort of a bed. I realize the agony I just endured was only a dream. However, something about it felt so real.
"Where am I?" I blink and look around the room, noticing EJ's family members huddled around my bed, their faces staring at me with expressions of ultimate concern.
"You're safe now, Leah. We were so worried about you." Alice's cold arms wrap around me, and my body tenses slightly at her touch.
"Leah!" Nessie is the next to welcome me as Alice releases me, and I return her embrace, happy to be reunited with my best friend again.
"Where's EJ?" I ask as she pulls away.
"We're waiting for Alice to give us the OK, when she feels the time is right to strike." Nessie informs me.
Alice gives me a half-smile, and I remember her telling me right before she left Forks that she would stall them until I arrived in Volterra.
"Leah, are you in any pain at all?" I hear Edward's somewhat frustrated voice play itself in my head as I readjust my body on the bed.
My body feels increasing sore and rigid. I stretch my arms above my head, feeling every muscle ache with the forced movement. A faint rumbling erupts inside my stomach, and I realize that I am extremely hungry.
"Emmett, Rosalie, would you mind calling room service and have them bring some food for Leah?" Edward asks, taking a seat beside me on the left side of the bed.
"Sure thing, Edward." Emmett answers, pulling Rosalie along with him out the bedroom door.
Placing his right hand to my forehead, I feel the frigid chill rush down my neck and onto my arms as Edward examines me. I place my hand down to my waist, and my palm is met with the familiar bump, except this time, the bump seems to have grown immensely.
"Has it grown since yesterday?" Edward places his hand on top of mine. I nod in response. "Maybe, this child is growing more rapidly in the womb than we thought."
"What?" My Alpha Jacob sits down beside me on the opposite side, positioning a hand on my right shoulder. The warmth of his hand suppresses the coldness left by Edward's touch.
"We'll have to wait until Carlisle returns and can make a better assessment, but it seems she may deliver earlier than we suspected." Edward sighs and stands up from the bed. "Alice, can you tell us anything about when the baby will be born?"
"The baby will be born after we find EJ. That's all I can see." Alice folds her arms over her chest as she speaks to her brother. I sense a feeling of remorse in the tone of her voice, and I know she regrets helping me in my journey to Volterra.
"Alice, may I have a word with you in the other room?" Edward asks as if he and Alice have shared some unspoken details to their conversation.
"Of course, Edward." Alice presses her hand gently to my right knee and then follows her brother out the room.
"Leah, why are you here in Volterra?" Jacob speaks to me as the two siblings exit the room. "You could've gotten yourself killed, exposing yourself in the square like that."
"I know, Jacob. I'm sorry." I feel the lump rising steadily in my throat. "I needed to find EJ. I felt his pull the second I passed by the clock tower."
"You felt his pull?" Jacob retorts, taking my hand, his brown eyes lost in thought. "That must mean he's somewhere near the Palazzo dei Priori."
"Do you think maybe Rhoda has already found him?" Nessie asks her husband, taking a seat on the bed as well.
"No, I think she would have contacted us by now if she did. She knows where we are." He replies, frowning.
Rhoda. The image of EJ and the other woman in the square from my dream clouds my mind in that moment. Something about that dream seemed so real; I wonder if EJ has moved on without me. If the Volturi has manipulated him so much that he has now taken a new lover, maybe even a wife. I shudder at the very notion, feeling almost sick to my stomach.
"Jacob, may I talk to you in private for a minute?" I request, smiling softly at Nessie and the remaining family members in the room.
"Sure." Nessie kisses Jacob on the cheek, and he in turn squeezes her hand. She guides her twin children out the room as Alice, Jasper, and Esme graciously leave as well.
"What did you want to talk to me about, Leah?" Jacob turns to me when we are alone.
"Jacob, have you ever been in love?" I look up at him, taking his left palm into mine again.
"Of course, Leah, Nessie is my whole world." Jacob smiles, possibly remembering the day he imprinted on Edward and Bella's only daughter.
"No, I mean, have you ever felt love for another woman?" As I pose the question to my Alpha, his expression shifts, and I know he realizes what I'm asking.
"Before Nessie, yes, with Bella, but those feelings are all gone now as if they never existed." He sighs, interlacing his fingers with mine. "And Jessica before Bella, remember when I dated her?"
"Yeah, you two were so cute together." I recall one of our old friends from high school with fondness. Jessica Burnside moved away many years ago, breaking Jacob's heart, but has now returned and lives on the reservation again with her husband.
"Yeah." Jacob laughs. "But you already knew all of this, Leah."
"It's just." I pause, trying to search for the right words. "I'm wondering if it's possible for a wolf to fall in love with someone else after they imprint."
"Leah, are you worried EJ has been unfaithful to you?" Jacob's eyes peer up at me.
"I just had this strange dream that he was kissing another woman, a vampire actually." I frown, looking down at our hands wound together.
Jacob abruptly removes his hand from mine, locking his fingers under my jaw and turning my head to look into my eyes. "Imprinting is irreversible, Leah. You know this. EJ will never be able to love another woman as much as he loves you. Have faith in him."
A tear streaks down my cheek as my Alpha speaks the words I have been longing to hear. But still something in my gut still tells me that my dream was more than a vision of my subconscious.
"Where is LEAH?" I hear a muffled voice calling from somewhere in the other room.
Suddenly, someone charges through the bedroom door, startling both Jacob and me. My whole body is revitalized as I realize who is now standing before me, the anger evident in his expression.
"Jackson?" I manage to utter, a smile widening on my face. Forgetting how weak I am, I leap straight into his arms.
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Rhoda's POV
I stand on the street corner near the Palazzo dei Priori, watching the shadows project off the buildings in the soft moonlight. It has been twenty-four hours since I escaped the confines of the Volturi, leaving behind my new friend, Edward Jacob Black, to further suffer their wrath. I vowed to him that I would return and deliver him from the hands of my former captors. And that is exactly what I plan to do.
Clutching the Immortal Blade firmly to my chest, I feel the sting of regret surge through my body. I have fallen desperately and madly in love with EJ over the past few days. It is something I never would have pursued if I had known that he had a mate back at home. I never thought it would be possible for me to love another after the Volturi murdered my husband, Raul, two years ago on our honeymoon. However, there is just something about EJ that makes my whole world feel revived again. When I look into his emerald, green eyes, I know that he is special, that he is destined for greatness in this world. I long to be by his side as he fulfills that great destiny, but I know that is another dream that will be left unfulfilled.
I became a servant of the Volturi after one of their guards fed on my husband late one night. Aro promised to spare my life if I would serve his guard in their every wish, need, want, and desire. Not wanting to suffer the same fate as my late Raul, I willingly accepted Aro's offer.
Now, I have endured two years of serving as food and sport to these sick immortals. They have fed off of me hundreds and hundreds of times, not to mention the many nights I have spent with almost every one of them in their beds. Being a nightly companion to beings that never tire or require sleep can take quite a toll on one's mortal body.
I shudder slightly as the tainted memories of my captors flood my mind. I hurriedly shake them away, not desiring to relive them once again. I am now free from their grip on my life, and they have another victim within their grasp. I will not let him suffer the same fate I did if it is the last thing I ever do.
Having informed EJ's family of my willingness to help, I quickly changed my appearance so as to remain undetected by the guards, who I am sure are out searching for me. I cut off my hair in a cropped, spiky style and dyed it pitch black with a kit I stole from a pharmacy around the corner. I swiped a female tourist's suitcase just outside a nearby hotel and dressed myself in one of her tank tops and a pair of jeans. To disguise my scent, I sprayed the woman's perfume all over my body, including my back and legs. I don't know if it will properly mask my scent, but I know I need to try everything I can to remain under their radar until the Cullens meet up with me in the square.
I have spent the last twenty-four hours going over and over again the plan I have for rescuing EJ. Since I have one of the Immortal Blades in my possession, it will be easy to slip into their lair under the cover of night and slay the guards who wait just inside the entrance. Once inside, we will hurry to the lower chambers, eradicating any immortals within our path, racing toward the dungeon where they keep servants who have been uncooperative. I know this is where they are harboring EJ, for I know they consider him an accomplice to my escape. When we reach EJ's cell, one of his vampire relatives will pull the bars off the walls, freeing EJ from his confinement.
After releasing EJ, I will tell the others to take EJ and flee the Volturi's lair. I will turn and face Aro on my own. I want to feel the force of my knife penetrate his worthless flesh. I want to see the horrified look on his wretched face as I stab the Immortal Blade into his cold heart. I want to see him writhe in ever-growing pain as his immortal life abruptly comes to a bitter end.
The last hope I have for my rescue of EJ will come later once we have slain the remainder of the Volturi guards. When we reach the safety of the Volterra streets, I dream of EJ pulling me into his arms, kissing me passionately under the backdrop of the magnificent square. He would pick me up into his arms, spin me around, and ask me to be his wife for all eternity.
However, I know that EJ is dedicated to his mate, Leah, and that dream will never come true. I frown at the thought, still holding the blade against my torso.
No longer desiring to put off the inevitable, I realize that it is now time to meet up with the Cullens.
I step out into the street, hearing the muted thumps of my boots as they strike the cobble-stoned path below.
Unexpectedly, something rushes in front of me, blocking my path into the square.
"Rhoda?" A voice calls out to me as the figure raises it head under the veil of a black cloak. I recognize his face immediately.
My whole body immobilizes, for I know that I have been discovered. My mind freezes as well, and I am unable to think of a plan to escape.
"Nahuel." The identification catches in my throat as I speak.
"Don't be afraid, Rhoda." He firmly grasps me by my right arm, pulling me into the dimness of an alleyway. "I'm here to help, and I've brought along a few friends."
I relax immediately, hearing the approaching footsteps of several entities behind me. I turn my head, only to observe a half-dozen men and women now standing beside Nahuel.
"Who are they?" I loudly gulp, sensing the danger of being in their presence.
Nahuel laughs and then relays, "Let's just say they are some of EJ's kin."
ATTN: I hope this chapter didn't confuse anyone; the story is going to pick up in the next chapter. Let the ass-whooping commence! LOL